An FBI agent and a hacker walk into a storm cellar
by irishwhiskeyandsweets
Summary: Well, it's more like they're thrown in. Two of the most kidnapping prone characters in television are taken once again. Truth or dare is played, love advice is exchanged, and bets are made. No slash. Now a series of one-shots.
1. A meeting of the geeks

**Hi guys! I'm very very sorry if someone is OOC here. My knowledge of Criminal Minds is limited, and this is my first attempt at writing Charlie. I hope you enjoy anyways and if you have any ideas of how I could continue the story I would love to hear them!**

Reid groaned a little to himself as the cellar door he had just been very rudely thrown through slammed behind him. Why did the unsubs always pick _him_ to kidnap? Why not any of the other people on the team? Maybe Morgan was right about him being a trouble magnet.

He groaned again as he sat up, this time out of pain instead of a frustrating sense of familiarity at his abduction. The unsub had snuck up on him from behind, leaving Reid with a huge headache in a dusty storm cellar and the BAU with a missing genius. At least he probably didn't have a concussion.

"Are you okay?"

Reid jumped slightly as a female voice made itself known in one of the dark corners of the cellar behind him. He hadn't known there was anyone else was there.

"Um, yeah I'm fine. I almost forgot how much getting hit with a baseball bat hurts. Just wanted to refresh my memory is all."

He babbled in the general vicinity of the corner, since he still couldn't see the person who had spoken. She laughed, a pretty sound that didn't fit in among the dust and the cobwebs. A scuffling followed as she hopped down from her perch near the door Reid had just been tossed through.

"Good. I was gonna jump 'em when the door opened but they were too quick in closing it. You'd think they'd at least stick around to introduce their captives. I'm Charlie, by the way."

She told him, looking alarmingly calm considering the situation. She clapped her hands together quickly to get rid of the dust then ran them through her red hair to dislodge a spiderweb that had gotten caught in it.

"Dr. Spencer Reid."

He introduced more formally than she, hoping silently thet she wouldn't want to shake hands. Luckily, she didn't seem too interested and plopped herself down on a raised mound of dirt that loosely resembled a stool.

"You might as well sit down. I'm pretty sure we're going to be here for a while."

She motioned to another mound of dirt directly across from her grandly, like it was a fancy couch. Reid considered it for a moment then folded his lanky form over it, taking a minute to find a position where his long legs didn't splay out awkwardly.

"Why do you say that? We could be rescued fairly soon or find a way to escape."

He told her diplomatically after he had settled. She raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, I've been down here for like two hours. I searched the entire place. Trust me, there is no way to escape. Also, the cops in this town couldn't find an Orc in Mordor. What makes you think they can find us after they've been searching for the others for months?"

He smiled at her analogy, taking note of the Star Wars shirt under her professional jacket.

"My team will find us eventually."

He told her, not doubting that they would. The eyebrow quirked again.

"Team? Oh, you're with that group of Feds we saw in town the other day. I knew you looked familiar."

"Uh, yeah. The BAU, actually. It stands for Behavioral Analysis Unit."

He answered in anticipation of her next question.

"Profilers? That's cool."

He just nodded at that, unsure of what to say next. They sat in semi-awkward silence for a minute or so before Charlie clapped suddenly, making him jump a little.

"So, Doc," She put on a serious expression.

"Shall we play a game?"

* * *

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

It seemed like the safest answer to Reid, considering what his dare had been last time. He began to doubt his choice, though, when Charlie's face broke into an evil smile.

"Most embarrassing moment in front of a coworker."

He groaned, which only made her cackling louder.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Fine. We were at a high school, looking into a string of students disappearing, and..."

He could feel his face turning pink.

"I got shoved into a locker by one of the seniors."

To her credit, Charlie managed to keep a straight face for almost four seconds. Then her mouth started twitching into a smile, which she tried, with no luck, to turn into a sympathetic expression. Pretty soon, she was howling with laughter.

Reid waited for her giggles to die down before using his turn.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

He searched for a question to ask.

"Worst job you've ever had."

It was kind of lame, but Charlie didn't even have to think about it before she answered.

"Richard Roman Enterprises."

Reid blinked in surprise.

"That's the company that blew up, and took the owner with it. People lost a fortune in stocks. You worked there?"

Charlie nodded.

"Yep. I quit before that, though."

"Why?"

"Mostly because my boss was an evil monster. I met two of my best friends because of it, though, so I guess it wasn't that bad. Truth or dare?"

"Truth"

* * *

"I'm booored. Wanna play would you rather?"

"We played that twenty minutes ago."

"Oh, yeah. What are your thoughts on Doctor Who?"

"New or old Who?"

"Both"

* * *

"So you think I should ask her out?"

"Totally. She definitely likes you."

"You think?"

"Yes. Heck, I even like you a little and I swing a whole 'nother way."

"Um, thanks, I guess?"

"You're welcome."

* * *

"Ugh, this is taking forever. Someone better rescue us quick."

"Well, we are in the middle of nowhere. It's probably pretty hard to find."

"That's no excuse. My friends can track a wendigo through the woods in the middle of the night, and yet, they can't find a dusty old cabin and its even dustier cellar?"

"They can track a _what?"_

"A, uh, wounded goat?"

"That's not what it sounded like you said."

"Well, maybe you should get your hearing checked."

* * *

"Ten bucks says my friends find us before your team does."

"My team is a bunch of highly trained FBI agents. I don't think so."

"So you'll take the bet?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"I'm not going to take your money."

"Or you're just afraid of losing to a girl."

"I'm a psychologist. I know when someone's trying to manipulate me."

"Twenty bucks?"

"You're on."

* * *

"Got any fives?"

"Go fish."

"Dang! Hey, I thought you had an eidetic memory. How come you didn't remember you had playing cards in your pocket until fifteen minutes ago?"

"You're just trying to distract me from my eminent victory. Got any twos?"

"I'm not trying to distract you. Go fish."

* * *

"I think you're cheating."

"How do you cheat at tic tac toe?"

"I don't know, but you are. You've beaten me every time."

"Actually, it's mostly about probabilities. There is only a finite number of moves you can make, and by extrapolating from the moves already played, you can begin to-"

"Okay, I get it. I call X."

* * *

"So, you remember everything you've ever read?"

"That's right."

"Read me a story. Anything but Twilight."

"No."

"You're no fun."

* * *

"I have to pee."

"That's not good."

"No kidding, genius."

"Maybe they'll find us soon?"

"We both better hope so."

* * *

"Aaaand, we have officially hit the six hours mark. You think they forgot about us?"

"Probably not..."

"That's very reassuring, thank you, Doc."

* * *

Charlie managed to hold it for another hour, somehow. They both bolted to their feet when the very distinct sound of gunshots could be heard from outside.

"Finally. That only took them forever."

Charlie complained, ducking behind one of the wooden beams as a stray bullet found its way through the wooden door of the cellar.

"At least they didn't forget about us."

Reid offered from next to her where he had taken cover.

Charlie opened her mouth to say something that was probably snarky when the door burst open, interrupting her.

The biggest man Reid had ever seen came through the doorway, then flattened himself against the wall next to it, as the steady stream of bullets he had brought with him had no sign of letting up.

"Hey Charlie. Who's your friend?"

The guy asked, waving and ignoring the bullet that almost took off his hand.

"He's an FBI agent, Sam. And it took you guys long enough. Where's your brother?"

"He's _supposed _to be the distraction while I get you. I think he's taking out the warding that kept Cas away, though."

"Oh, I was wondering why he didn't pop in here."

There was a sudden blinding light from outside and the gunshots stopped abruptly.

"I guess he did it. Let's go."

Sam said, peering around the corner cautiously, the shotgun in his hand held tightly. When nothing happened, he stepped outside and gestured to the two of them to follow.

When they stepped outside, Reid stopped short. There were ten or so women, lying on the ground, unconscious or dead, he wasn't sure which. Noticing his shocked stare, Sam laughed.

"Don't worry. They're just unconscious. Cas musta whammied them."

Two more people came running around the corner, one of them bearing another shotgun, though the other was unarmed.

"We gotta problem, Sammy. The Feds are right behind us."

The guy with the shotgun said. He must be Sam's brother, Reid guessed, which made the trenchcoat guy Cas.

Sam glanced back at Reid.

"They're probably here for him. Charlie said he's an FBI agent. I don't know about you, but I'm not really looking forward to another run at the top of the most wanted list."

Well, that didn't sound very good. Reid heard the faint sounds of sirens approaching.

Dean nodded.

"Yeah, me either. Cas, maybe you could do your thing? Just from when he saw us?"

Cas nodded seriously and stepped forward. Reid took a step back.

"Don't worry, dude. You'll still remember my awesomeness and everything, just not the part where you saw a couple of murderers. Supposed."

Charlie said, attempting to sound reassuring. She didn't.

But, it didn't matter because Cas was suddenly right there, impossibly fast. Reid tried to protest, but the other man placed two fingers on his forehead and suddenly what he was going to say didn't seem so important. As his world went black, the last thing he heard was Charlie asking if they could go get some pie.

* * *

When Reid woke, the first thing he saw was Morgan's worried face peering down at him. Pretty soon, Hotch and the rest of the team joined.

"You okay, pretty boy?"

Reid realized he was still in the cellar. He didn't know why that surprised him, but it did. There was also a very noticeable absence of Charlie. Somehow that didn't surprise him, which confused him even more.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

Morgan's expression lost some of its worry and took on anger instead.

"Turns out our unsub was part of some weird cult. They grabbed you because they were afraid we were going to take away one of its members, and apparently that didn't make them very happy."

He helped Reid sit up carefully.

"You need an ambulance?"

Reid considered it for a moment then shook his head.

"I don't think so. All I've got is a bump on my head. Did you get the unsubs?"

"Yeah. It was really weird, though. As soon as we pulled up they practically came running out to meet us. They confessed before we could even get a word out. Kept going on about how an angel was going to come back and punish them for their sins. They're either crazy or trying to look that way for the insanity defense."

Reid took in the information and took a moment to think.

"This might sound like a weird question, but there wasn't anyone down here with me, was there?"

His teammates looked like they were revisiting the idea of an ambulance.

"Noooo..."

Morgan said slowly.

"Did you...see someone else down here?"

"Nope. Just wondering. Can we go now? I want pie, all of a sudden."

"Yeah kid. We'll go get you some pie."


	2. Pie is consumed and bets are repaid

Reid accepted his coffee from the waitress eagerly. He hadn't had any for at least seven hours, and how he had sorely missed it in that time. He barely registered that the pie had arrived as well, so caught up he was in his doused in sugar caffeinated delight.

Everyone else, on the other hand, had noticed the pie just fine and were digging in with unashamed gusto. Reid laughed at the sight of JJ with whipped cream on her nose and Garcia attempting to get Hotch to try a piece of her pecan by shoving a fork full of it directly into his mouth.

He finished his coffee off quickly and was about to move onto the pie.

"This had better be the best pie ever. I'm super hungry."

Reid had just been about to say almost that exact same thing when a female voice said it for him. A very familiar female voice.

He swiveled his head so fast he almost got whiplash.

He was just in time to see a flash of red hair going out the front door.

"I'll be right back."

He told his team quickly, not waiting to find out their response. He stepped outside and looked around, but there was no one to be seen, save a homeless man on the corner and a teenage boy skateboarding.

He shook his head and went back inside.

He sat back down in his spot at the booth, moving his signature bag out of the way so he could sit.

Wait, his bag?

He was sure he hadn't gotten it back yet, his photographic memory supplied an image of it sitting on the driver's seat of the SUV just before he had gotten snatched.

So how was it here?

He opened it cautiously, but found nothing out of order. Except, that book had _not _been there before.

_Supernatural- By Carver Edlund_

_LARP and the Real Girl._

There was a blue sticky note stuck to the front cover. It was in a girl's handwriting, with curly g's and bubbles over the I's.

**Doc,**

**Sorry to skip out on you so fast. We'll have to finish our discussions someday soon. In the meantime, I'd suggest you read this book. It's my favorite, probably because of the super hot fairy or because of the super awesome Queen. Anyways, no need to worry about the twenty you owe me, I used it to buy my pie. Live long and prosper.**

**-C **

Reid read the note three times. Then a smile crept over his face. At least this meant he wasn't crazy, although he had no idea how she had gotten the book in his bag without anyone noticing.

He pulled his wallet out to pay and found the twenty he had replaced by another blue sticky note, this one with a smiley face and the Deathly Hallows symbol from Harry Potter doodled in the corner.

It looked like he had some reading to do tonight.


	3. And so they meet again

Reid blearily made his way toward the coffee machine, rubbing his eyes. He had a late night, marathoning the Harry Potter movies, not that he would admit it. So preoccupied he was with his thoughts of caffeine that he didn't see the pile of papers being carried by someone until it was too late.

They collided.

The other person's papers didn't fly in all directions like the movies, but slide towards the floor and land with minimal disruption of order.

"Oh, sorry about that-"

Reid started, but stopped suddenly when he got a look at the person he ran into. His eyes widened.

She bent down to grab her papers, oblivious.

"It's cool, I was just-"

That was when she finally looked up at him. Her eyes got wider, too.

It probably looked comical, the two of them standing in a busy hallway gawking at each other with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Um, hi?"

She said, using her hand not occupied by gripping the papers to give an awkward wave.

"Charlie?"

The young genius burst out unbelievingly. It had been months since their first encounter. He had half believed that he had just imagined the girl.

She opened her mouth to answer when she was cut off by a half-squeal/half-coo from behind. It was, frankly, terrifying.

Garcia emerged from the bustling crowd like a pink shark with earrings, grinning fondly at the two, who had managed to stop their staring in time for the tech analyst to spot them.

"My two geniuses have met! I was going to introduce you two later. Charlie, this is Reid, an agent here. Reid, this is Charlotte. She's a graduate student, trying to learn the arts of the computer. She's a natural."

Reid looked at the redhead meaningfully.

"Oh, really."

He said rather than asked. He had been doing some interesting reading lately, and according to _Supernatural, _she was not a grad student. Or any kind of student. Or up to anything good.

She smiled at him nervously as if silently asking if he would give her away for...whatever it was she was doing.

"Nice to meet you."

He said with only a hint of sarcasm. She brightened considerably.

"You too!"

Garcia seemed pleased with her match, grinning like a proud mother.

"I'll meet with you later, Charlie. Bye!"

Garcia said, practically skipping off, probably to tell Morgan about the perfect match she had found for her baby genius. It seemed Charlie hadn't the heart to tell the tech goddess about her predilection toward the same gender.

Reid sighed.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, _Charlotte_?"

He asked, putting emphasis on the name and gesturing toward the coffee room. She nodded and followed him in, dumping her stack of papers on the table.

Reid swiped a cup of coffee before turning to the read headed hacker.

"Did you read the book I left you?"

Were the first words out of her mouth. Reid smothered a very small grin.

"Yes, Charlie, I read the cryptic book you smuggled into my bag. And the rest in the series. And coincidentally enough, they seemed to have a strange resemblance to events that happened in real life."

She smiled at him from behind the wide glasses on her face. Reid wasn't sure if she needed them or was just trying to look the role.

"I know, right? Weird. That hacker from Roman Enterprises, though? Pretty awesome."

This time he did smile.

"I guess so. But, considering what I got from those books, I would say that you're not here for the work experience."

He had been a bit dubious on the existence of monsters at first, but after he looked into some of the places and dates in the books, made a couple of calls, and read not one but two autopsy reports on Dean Winchester, it was a little easier to believe.

Charlie looked a little sheepish. When she looked like she was about to answer, Reid held up a hand.

"I don't even think I want to know. Just, is anyone going to get hurt?"

She looked down at her feet and the agent decided to amend his question.

"Is anyone _innocent _going to get hurt?"

"Oh, no, definitely not. Going to save them, actually."

Reid inwardly rolled his eyes. Spend a few hours locked in a cellar with someone and suddenly you're an accomplice to her immoral/slightly vigilante deeds.

"Okay, then. Like I said, I don't want to know."

She gave him a blinding smile and picked up her papers.

"Thanks! You're the best. Oh, and if you hear anything weird going on around the fifth floor, just ignore it, okay?"

She opened the door, about to leave.

"This time, stay in contact, will you?"

He asked just before she stepped out. She smiled, nodded, gave the Vulcan salute, and left.

He smiled softly after her and turned back to his coffee.

* * *

Reid was not surprised to hear that the series of weird accidents going around the fifth floor had stopped suddenly. Nor was he surprised when the rumor went around that one of the agents who used to work there's grave had been dug up and burned. Or when Garcia told him that Charlie had to leave suddenly because of a family emergency.

The only thing he was slightly surprised about was when a message popped up on his computer screen while he was filling out paperwork.

_Hey, you said to keep in touch. This is totally secure, thanks to my genius. Let's talk soon, maybe get together for a cup of coffee. Comic Con is coming up soon. Just saying._

_-C_

Reid made sure no curious agents (namely, Morgan) were looking over his shoulder, then typed out a response.

_Thanks for the help on the fifth floor. But next time, just ask. If you're ever back in town, I'm sure you already know where I live. If not, I'm sure that you can find out. See you later, C._

_-R_

He closed the window just as Hotch emerged from his office.

"Round table room, five minutes."

Reid got up, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair.

What do you know? Dr. Spencer Reid did believe that he had made a friend.

**So, I think I'm going to turn this story into a series of short stories about Charlie and Reid's friendship and adventures. If you have any ideas for a chapter, I would love to hear them in the comments. I already have a few more stories planned, but I could use the help with more. Thanks!**


	4. A mostly intentional misunderstanding

The door screeched open with a whine.

_Going to have to get that fixed._

Reid thought to himself as he pushed further into his apartment. He threw his bag onto the entry table and frowned at the strands of bright red splayed all over the arm of his couch, and the woman attached to them, although she was playing on her phone and couldn't see.

"Don't you frown at me."

At least, he _thought _she couldn't see. He considered commenting about her scary powers of perception, but decided it would just lead to a lengthy discussion about chameleon circuits, someone else's problem spells, and perception filters, and didn't think it would be worth it.

"I thought you were going to wait till after I got out of work to crash here."

He said instead, pushing her sprawling legs onto the hardwood floor and taking a seat next to her.

Charlie didn't look up from her phone.

"Got bored waiting. Your neighbors were looking at me funny when I waited outside. Dean's been teaching me to pick locks. Ate the last of your animal crackers."

He grumbled halfheartedly about it then pried the remote from her death grip, changing the channel from some Disney show to Mythbusters.

Despite the loss of his crackers, he didn't really mind her being there. She had messaged him during work about needing a place to crash after a minor hunt involving a leprechaun or a fayrie or something. It was Friday, which meant, if all went well and no one decided to go on a murder spree, she could stay the whole weekend and no work would get in the way.

They chatted idly for a while, about anything and everything. What was new at work, interesting articles they had read, Charlie's new sort of girlfriend, upcoming Marvel movies, pretty much anything they hadn't yet messaged each other about in their frequent online chats.

* * *

Soon, though, they decided on a Doctor Who marathon, from the first Doctor to the twelfth (they argued about the War Doctor counting as one).

They curled up on the couch with about ten pounds of blankets and three bags of newly popped popcorn. Charlie even produced unnatural amounts of movie theater candy from seemingly out of nowhere.

They argued over which Doctor was the best, which villain was the scariest, and threw popcorn at the screen whenever something cheesy popped up.

* * *

"Oh, come on! That is so obviously the Master. Does anyone pay attention in these things?"

"That Cyberman is made of tinfoil."

"Ha ha, look at his hair."

"Rose Tyler, I-"

"Ponds! I'm not crying, nope. Stupid Moffat."

"How are they not noticing the Torchwood symbols everywhere? I mean, they literally went to a place called Torchwood."

"What in Rassilion's name?"

* * *

Reid had offered his bed to the hacker and dragged a blanket and pillow out to his couch for himself, but it turned out not to be needed. They both ended up sound asleep on the couch at four in the morning, curled up around buckets of popcorn and discarded pieces of trash and candy wrappers strewn all over the floor.

The only sound that could be heard besides the next episode playing on automatic was the soft sound of the two geek's breathing and a short and sudden buzz of Charlie's sonic screwdriver as Reid's cat, Shrödie, batted it to and fro.

* * *

They were both woken suddenly at somewhere in the vicinity of eight o'clock AM.

It took Reid a moment to place where the sound was coming from.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Someone was knocking on his door in short but loud bursts. Untangling himself from Charlie's foot, which had somehow ended up nearly shoved inside his mouth during the night, Reid glanced at his phone. It was on the floor next to the couch and he was dismayed to see that he had missed at least one call or text, sometimes both, from each of his teammates.

Ever since Tobias, the team had been a lot more careful about noticing missing teammates, especially when it came to him. It figured that his overprotective team would be worried enough to send someone over...

"Reid! Reid, it's Morgan. Open up."

Reid groaned and slammed his face back into his pillow. Charlie, who had only just sat up and started rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, grinned tiredly. It was good he had friends who found amusement in his pain.

"One second!"

Reid called out to the door, to prevent Morgan from kicking it down more than anything else. When he looked over at Charlie, her playful grin had turned scheming.

Reid immediately grew apprehensive. In all the times they had seen each other since their first meeting, that face was never a good one.

"What?"

He asked, scooting away slightly and starting to pat down his hair, which had grown messy in the night.

"You wanna mess with him? I have an awesome idea."

She said, stripping off her jacket. Meanwhile, Morgan's knocks, while less urgent now, were still coming, annoying the heck out of him in his tired state after a late night.

"I guess..."

He said, knowing he would regret it as soon as he did. She grinned ferociously. He was reminded of a tiger just before it pounced.

"Great. Take off your jacket."

He did so reluctantly after calling out to Morgan that he still needed another minute. She snatched it up from where he set it and threw it in overtop her tank top. It went nearly down to her knees, because of the height difference and the fact that it was a little bit big for him in the first place. Then, she started to wriggle out of her skinny jeans.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He hissed, looking quite horrified.

She grinned at him and made sure the oversized sweater was covering herself. Then, she reached over and ruffled up his hair, which he had just managed to flatten down at bit.

All at once he realized what she was doing.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. I am not doing that. Or, pretending we did, you know, _that_."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Too late now. Oops."

And with that, she opened the door, just wide enough for her head to stick out and the aftermath of their movie night to be hidden.

Morgan was paused in mid-about to knock, looking quite annoyed. His expression changed to confused when Charlie's very red head popped out.

"Umm..."

Morgan started, while Reid tried to push his way past the surprisingly strong girl from behind the door, where Morgan couldn't see him.

She kept a neutral expression while using one hand to keep the door open and the other to hold the genius back.

"Oh, you're one of Spence's friends, right? Mordred, Morgan, something like that. I'll get him."

Charlie said, somehow adopting a valley girl tone along the way. Reid had given up trying to get past her and was making silent _no, no, no _hand motions, which the hacker ignored.

"Spency! It's your friend!"

She called out to the empty apartment in an obnoxious voice. He was going to kill her. Said soon-to-be dead redhead waited a few seconds, what Reid assumed was her estimated time it would take to get from the bedroom to the door.

He definitely did not have to fake his blush as Charlie pulled him by the wrist into the doorway, letting the door swing open just wide enough for Morgan to get a glimpse of her attire.

He could practically see the gears in the seasoned profiler's brain working, doing the math as his eyes moved from Charlie, to Reid, and back again. He was clearly coming to the conclusion Charlie had intended him to.

She moved out of sight a second later, stating loudly that she was going to go make him some pancakes, even though he was pretty sure that was a lie, considering the story she had told him about the time she brought a cute blonde home and nearly burned the poor girl's eyebrows off when she tried to cook.

Morgan's eyebrows looked like they were going to slide right off the top of his head, they were raised so high.

Charlie flounced smugly out of sight, leaving Reid alone with the other agent.

The genius shuffled uncomfortably and tried to straighten his t-shirt, which, now that he thought about it, helped Charlie's case more than his own.

"We caught a case. You weren't answering your phone, so Hotch sent me down."

Morgan explained, already getting out his phone, presumably to tell the rest of the BAU that their youngest member hadn't been brutally murdered in the night.

"I was kind of busy."

Reid mumbled. Morgan smirked.

"I could see that. I'm gonna get down to the office. I'll see you there. This one's local."

He turned to leave.

"Oh, and Reid?"

"Yeah?"

Morgan winked.

"Nice job."

The blush was certainly in a competition to out-red Charlie's hair. The door shut on Morgan's smug face. Reid sighed and turned to another smug face; Charlie's.

"Did you see his face?"

He walked away.

"What? You didn't think it was funny?"

* * *

The whole rest of the day, his teammates were giving Reid a combination of approving and thoughtful stares. Stupid Morgan and his big mouth.

* * *

He had to resist slamming his head straight into the table during the briefing on their latest case. Murders, being attributed to Leprechauns by witnesses. They were being tested for trauma. Also, some kids remembered a pretty lady asking questions about it.

There was also salt and animal crackers crumbs all over the last crime scene.

He hated his life.

* * *

**So, thanks for reading all of this so far. There's not really a particular time between the stories, just that they all occur after the first one I wrote.****I have no idea if Reid's cat is canon or if I just read it somewhere. Either way, I love the idea and included him in it a bit. ****This might come off as kind of Reid/Charlie, which is not my intent at all, it's just meant to be pure friendship. I ****really appreciate all your reviews but I could use some more prompts. **Thanks!


	5. First Tattoos

**I'll be alternating between the artist's POV and theirs for this one. I also know nothing about tattoos, so some of this might be wrong. Hope you like it! Many great stories in the future, including some of your guy's prompts.**

Selena was in the middle of doodling a rather complicated flower on a piece of paper when the bell that announced an arrival dinged merrily. She went out to the front, making sure her rolled up sleeves displayed her tattoos nicely. A free permanent advertisement.

She almost laughed when she saw the couple who were waiting. They were the exact opposite of someone you would expect at a tattoo establishment, even if it was respectable, such as her place.

The guy was dressed like an absolute dork, not in the ironic, hipster sort of way, but like it was just what he wore, sweater vest and all. The girl had bright red hair and a Harry Potter shirt. She was coaxing him forward, as he went on nervously about tattoo related infection statistics.

She knew their type. They were either a couple, getting cutesy matching tats, or one had lost a bet. And, judging by the way the girl was surreptitiously checking out Selena, it was probably the latter.

"One tattoo please."

The girl said firmly, glaring at her companion as if daring him to complain. He didn't. Smart guy.

"Of course. Anything in particular?"

Selena answered pleasantly, already mentally preparing herself for an embarrassing heart or an _I lost a bet and all I got was this lousy tattoo _(they got a lot more of those than you would expect). Instead, the girl surprised Selena by pulling a folded up piece of printer paper from her messenger bag and handing it over.

It was some kind of pentagram or something, with firey stuff around it in a circle. Not at all what she was expecting. But then again, people were weird, and their bets were even weirder. She nodded like it was a more common occurrence than it actually was.

"Exactly like that. No variations."

The girl said seriously, gesturing to the picture to make her point. Selena named her price and the red head agreed, almost forcing the quiet guy into the chair. Selena shook her head and went to go get her supplies.

* * *

Once the black haired tattoo artist was gone, Charlie began to laugh at Reid's expression.

"Don't be so freaked out. They don't hurt that much. Granted, I was drunk for my first one, but the anti-possesion one I was completely sober."

She pulled down the shoulder of her shirt just enough to demonstrate that she did indeed have a tattoo that matched the design she had given the artist.

She grinned fondly at the memory of getting it. The boys had taken her out for pie after, then a marathon of Paranormal Activity and Ghostbusters. She had much of the same plans for her FBI friend.

The young genius glared.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this. How am I supposed to explain this to the team?"

Charlie shrugged, unconcerned, then popped a gummy worm into her mouth, tilting the bag toward him in offering.

"Don't take off your shirt at work, then. Problem solved."

He glared harder and declined the proffered snack.

"Now choose where you want it, you big baby."

* * *

Reid resisted rubbing the raw spot on his ribs where his new ink was permanently inscribed into the skin. Charlie was unsympathetic.

"Look at it this way; now, you officially know more than the world at large. It's a sign of initiation."

She passed him another bowl of ice cream.

"I already knew more than the world at large. I never needed a tattoo before."

He pointed out, trying to still look grumpy while shoveling Rocky Road into his mouth.

"Eh, whatever."

She waves him off, turning up the volume all the way as the Ghostbusters song came on. He was going to get complaints from his neighbors tomorrow.

Still, he somehow managed to get roped into singing along with the movie and with Charlie at the top of his lungs.

Maybe, in the scale of things, a tattoo wasn't too bad.


End file.
